Cape police working to cut response time

Police in Cape Coral are trying to get to you faster — 16 seconds faster, actually.

That may not seem like a lot of time, but police say those few seconds can make all the difference in the world to victim of a crime or an accident.

Currently it takes a Cape Coral police officer an average of five minutes and 35 seconds to make it to a scene.

In 2017, the department wants that time shortened by 16 seconds.

"Particularly priority one calls, being your violent crimes, felonies in progress. When you're talking about a person who is being physically harmed or physically threatened, 16 seconds is an eternity," said Lt. Dana Coston.

Residents NBC2 spoke to are happy the faster response time is a goal of the department for this year.

"It will save a lot more lives." said Josh Pasoriza.

"Every second counts, I mean 10, 15 seconds seems like a lifetime. I think it would be great even if they could do 16 seconds, I mean it would be great if they could do more, but you know, you got to start somewhere." said Laura Louder.

The department said a variety of factors will help make the new average response time of five minutes and 19 seconds a reality.

"The size of patrol beats that officers are assigned to, the number of officers that are working at any given time," Coston said.

The police department is currently hiring for 12 officer positions.

Coston said once those spots are filled, that will help the department achieve the quicker response time average.